Thuringia

The Free State of Thuringia is a federal state in central Germany, nicknamed "the green heart of Germany" due to the dense forest (the Thuringenwald) covering the land. Erfurt is the capital of Thuringia, and its major cities include Jena, Gera, Weimar, Gotha, Nordhausen, Eisenach, Suhl, Altenburg, and Muehlhausen. By 2017, Thuringia's government was ruled by a leftist coalition of the Social Democratic Party, Die Linke, and Alliance 90/The Greens, showing a strong leftist electorate that was clearly influenced by Thuringia's communist past under East Germany. In 2015, Thuringia had a population of 2,170,714 people.